Conduit for railroads



No. 6|9,783. Patented Feb. 2|, I899.

F. S. PEARSUN.

CONDUIT FOR RAILROADS.

(Application filed Feb. 11, 1898.)

(No Modal.)

1X 1 &

THE NORRIS PETERS cu, vumqu'rnoq WASHINGTON D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED S. PEARSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CONDUIT FOR RAILROADS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,783, dated February21, 1899. Application filed February 11, 1898. Serial No. 669,909. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED S. PEARSON, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inConduits for Railroads, of which the following is a specification.

This improvement relates to conduits or subways for street-railways; andit consists of a door or trap in the top of the conduit which isautomatically pressed by the passage of the car over the track andthrough which the grip or plow of the cable or electric car is raisedfrom the conduit onto the car. It sometimes occurs that the same car isrun over two sections of the road, one of which has a conduit or subwayand the other of which is without such conduit-as, for instance, whenthe car is propelled by an underground electrical system, then by anoverhead trolley. As a matter of course, before the car from whichdepends the electrical plow or the grip can pass over the section of theroad not provided with the conduit the plow or grip must be lifted fromthe conduit, and this invention is intended to provide a suitableopening for this purpose in the top of the conduit, closed by a doorwhich is automatically opened by the car as it passes in position overthe opening and which closes itself as the car passes beyond the latter.In my Letters Patent No. 603,656, dated May 10,

which the mechanism by which the door orv trap is opened is actuated oroperated by the wheel of the car passing over the track. In theimprovement described herein I show a similar construction to that shownin the patent above, but in which the mechanism operating the door isactuated by the plow or grip in the conduit.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my improvement, Figure 1 is aplan view of the track, showing the position'of the trap or door. Fig. 2is an enlarged plan view of the track, showing the trap and, in dottedlines, the mechanism for operating the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the trap and mechanism for operating the same through the line a:01;, Fig. 4; and Fig. 4 is an end elevation, partly in section, throughthe line L y, Fig. 3.

1 1 are the rails on which the cars run, and

2 is the slot-rail, through which the electric plow projects into theconduit.

3 is the trap or door into the conduit. As will be seen from Figs. 1 and2, this door is situated at the side of the road, next to one of therails, in order that when the plow is raised into the car it will beunder the seat of the latter, and the slot-rail 2 is deflected from thecenter of the road sidewise, and thus made to carry the plow in positionunder the trap. As shown, the trap or door is in two parts or sections,having the opening or slot between them. These sections are held inplace and automatically raised and lowered by the mechanism shown inFigs. 3 and 4 and erected in the conduit beneath the trap. On the underside of each section 3 of the trap are two arms 4 4', the lower ends ofwhich are pivoted in the upper ends of the levers 5 5, mounted on therock-shafts 6 and 10, respectively. On the shaft 6 is a short arm orlever 7, the outer end of which is connected by a link 8 with a lever 9,secured to and turning with the rock-shaft 10. The rock-shafts 6 and 10,and consequently the levers 5 and 5', secured to the two sections of thetrap, are thus connected with each other, insuring the two parts of thetrap moving together when the trap is opened or closed. When the trap isclosed, the levers 5 and 5 occupy the position shown in Fig. 4, withtheirupper ends,

to which the rods 4 and 4' are connected, resting against thecross-piece 30. 1898, I have shown sucha construction in Y The shafts 6and 10 are revolved and the levers 5 and 5 thrown back or outward toopen the trap 3 by the following mechanism: On the rock-shaft 10 ismounted a short arm 11, to the other end of which is connected thevertical rod 12. The upper end of this rod is connected to the arm 13 ofthe bell-crank 13 15, (shown more particularly in dotted lines in Fig.4,) which turns on the stud 14 in the upper part of the framework. Aswill be understood from Fig. 4, as this bell-crank 13 15 is turned onits stud it moves the rod 12 up and down,and thereby raises and lowersthe arm 11 on the shaft 10 and turns this shaft and also the shaft 6,connected with it, so as to move the levers 5 and 5 back and forth, andthus draw down and push up the sections of the trap 3 and open and closethe latter.

In front of the trap-door 3, below the slot in the slot-rail and in linewith the latter,is a lever or actuator 16, pivoted at one end 17, so asto move in a horizontal plane, and connected at the other end by a link18 to the arm 15 of the bell-crank. As shown in Fig. 2, the center ofthe lever 16 is angular or curved and projects across the line of theslot in the slot'rail and in the path of the shank of the plow or gripas the latter passes in the slot, the arrangement of the lever beingsuch that as the plow or grip moves along in the slot it comes incontact with the lever and swings it to one side. As the lever 16is thusmoved to one side it turns the bell-crank 13 15 downward through thelink 18, connected to it, and the latter in turning, by means of the rod12, as above described, pushes down the arm 11 and turns the rock-shaft10, so as to throw outward or back the lever 5. As above stated, as thetwo rock-shafts 6 and 10 are connected with each other by the levers 7and 9 and link 8, as the rock-shaft 10 is revolved it revolves the othershaft in the opposite direction, and thus the levers 5 and 5', connectedwith both sections of the trap 3, are thrown back or outward at the sametime. As these levers move outward they draw the sections of the trapdown and back by means of the rods 4 and 4, to which they are connected,and thus open the trap. The position of the several parts when the trapis thus drawn down or opened is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. Onthe frame at each end of the trap are curved pieces 19, in whichprojectious on the ends of the trap slide and by means of which thesections of the trap are guided and held steady as they are drawn downor pushed up when the trap is opened or closed.

To hold the trap-sections down or the trap open while the plow or gripis lifted through the latter, I employ a latch 20, the hook of whichengages the cross-bar 5 extending across the top of the levers 5, whenthe latter is thrown back, as will be seen from Fig. 4. This latch ismounted on a rod 21, supported in bearings along the side of theframework, so as to turn therein, and has connected to it at one end anarm 22, projecting in an opposite direction from the latch, so that asthe arm is depressed the latch will be raised. The position of this arm22 is such that its outer end is directly beneath the track, and fromthe arm extends a rod 23, terminating in a suitable head 24 in the trackin the path of the wheel of the car, the arrangement of the severalparts being such that as the car-wheel passes over this part of thetrack it presses down the head 24 of the rod 23, thus turning the arm22, and with it the rod 21, so as to raise the latch 20 and release thecross-bar of the levers 5. On the end of the latch is a weight 28 toinsure the latch falling and catching on the cross-bar 5 The mechanismby which the trap is raised and lowered is so constructed and arrangedthat as soon as it is released from engagement with the latch it returnsto its original position, thus sliding the sections of the trap up andclosing the same.

To prevent the slamming and jarring of the apparatus when the trap isopened, the piston 25 of the dash-pot 26 is attached to the lever 5,whereby the piston is driven into the dash-pot, when the lever is thrownback and the trap opened.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows: As the ear passes along tothe place where it is desired to withdraw the electrical plow or thegrip from the conduit the plow or grip is first guided to the side ofthe road-bed in position to be beneath the trap. Before it reaches thetrap the shank of the plow or grip strikes against the lever or actuator16, which lies in its path and deflects the latter to one side. Thelever in turning operates the trap mechanism, whereby the sections ofthe trap are drawn down or back and the trap opened as the plow or griparrives beneath it. As the trap mechanism is drawn back and the trapopened it is held in this position by the latch. The plow or grip isthen raised from the conduit and placed on the car and the latterproceeds on its way. As the car passes beyond the trap the wheel of thecar presses down the head 24 in its path, thus turning the bar 21 andraising the latch from its engagement with the trap mechanism, allowingthe latter to return to its original position and close the trap. Thetrap is thus automatically opened by the car and closes at once as soonas the car has passed beyond it. As will be understood from Fig. 4, theposition of the levers 5 and 5 is such that they act as braces inholding up the sections of the trap, and the latter cannot be presseddown and opened by any pressure on the top of the trap, as by anythingstepping on or passing over the same, it being impossible to open thetrap except by means of the trap mechanism operated by the tongue placedalongside of the rail.

lVhat I claim is 1. In a conduit for railroads, in combination, a trapin the top of the conduit; mechanism by which the trap is opened andclosed; and an actuator arranged to be moved by the plow or gripdepending from the car whereby the trap mechanism is operated,substantially as described.

2. In a conduit for railroads, in combination, a trap in the top of theconduit; mechanism by which the trap is opened and closed an actuatorarranged to be moved by the plow or grip depending from the car wherebythe trap is opened; and mechanism whereby the trap is held open,arranged to be released by the car-wheel, substantially as described.

FRED S. PEARSON.

Witnesses:

W. P. PLUMMER, EDWARD YOUNG.

